Kickstarter

Mac users know that the thin and svelte design of the latest MacBooks means that the connectivity options for the notebook are limited. You need a different dongle for just about anything you want to connect to the Mac. A new product called the HyperDrive has turned up on Kickstarter and it may be the ideal thing for MacBook users looking for expanded connectivity.

We mentioned that Fitbit was reportedly close to buying some of the assets and people that were involved with Pebble early this month. Word has now surfaced that the financial woes at Pebble mean that the company is cancelling two of its products that lots of people backed on kickstarter. The Time 2 and Core devices have now been cancelled and sources say Pebble is planning to refund all Kickstarter backers.

A new robot is on Kickstarter called Root and the purpose of this robot is to teach anyone from age 4 to 99 how to code using a fun and simple approach. Root is designed to drive on walls, tables, and magnetic surfaces and is able to make games and coding challenges that will reinforce computational thinking. Root can be programmed to perform all sorts of tasks.

Have you ever played a video game so utterly terrifying that, post-shat, you wondered why you didn't have the foresight to put on a pair of adult diapers? If you happened to answer yes, the company behind horror game Outlast has the solution: Underscares, a pair of adult diapers with the game's logo, an ultra-mesh sewage suppressor butt-grid, and liquid-lock thigh portals. Yes, this is a real project.

Taking a selfie from a distance greater than the length of your arm requires either a second person or a selfie stick...or, if a new Kickstarter campaign is successful, a small pocket drone. Called AirSelfie, this new drone is small enough to fit in your pocket or purse, and it features a small integrated camera for recording videos and/or taking photographs. If all goes as planned, the drone will start shipping in March.

Typically if you want headphones for private listening and a portable speaker to share the music with a group, you need two devices. The new Boomphones Re-Up that have turned up on Kickstarter allow you to have both private and group listening with one device. Re-Up can be turned from headphones into a portable speaker at the press of a button.

A new product called Freedrum promises to take air drumming to a whole new level, allowing anyone to create beats using a pair of smart drum sticks. You don’t need an actual set of drums to play them with Freedrum — rather, each stick is equipped with sensors and smart tech that works with your smartphone and a mobile app. The best part? You can put a pair of earbuds in and won’t have to hear anyone complain about your skills.

Sevenhugs has a very cool remote control that is on Kickstarter and has destroyed its funding goal. The product is called the Smart Remote by Sevenhugs and this remote claims to be able to control any device you aim it at. The screen on the remote will adapt to the device you are aiming it at to give you control you need.

Winter is here in much of the world and that means it's glove weather. The catch with gloves is that many of them won't work with your touchscreen device leaving you having to pull off a glove in the cold before you can answer a call or use your smartphone. TAPS touchscreen Sticker with Touch ID promises to allow you to use any glove with any touchscreen device.

A new project has reached its funding goal on Kickstarter that aims to make your motorcycle helmet look like a prop from the set of the latest Tron film. The project is called LightMode Kits Redesigned and it is an improvement on the original LightMode. The big change comes in the control and power module that operates the entire system.

If you have a bit of fire bug in you, but you don't want to have to fiddle with fireplaces or fire pits that leave behind ash that you have to clean up, Flameflex is the ticket. This little gizmo has a mesh tube that surrounds an open flame that is twisted into a tornado shape by fancy magical technology inside the base of the Flameflex.

A new Kickstarter campaign is offering one of the more unique Bluetooth speakers we've seen: it is called Cork, and it attaches to the top of just about any bottle. When put in place on a bottle, Cork's tinny sounding audio becomes more robust and deep. The idea is that sans the bottle, Cork is very small and early to carry around. When it's time to listen to some music, the odds are high you've got some kind of bottle around to help out.